


n y l a

by 80stenbrough



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Aged up characters, College AU, M/M, Mild Language, Mutual Pining, ben and bev are together, bill and stan are gay per usual, eddie and richie forget about each other, mike is an asexual legend, pennywise is in this but In The Past, richie is famous, well slightly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-02
Updated: 2017-12-06
Packaged: 2019-02-09 14:52:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12890259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/80stenbrough/pseuds/80stenbrough
Summary: the boy searched through his contact list, cleaning it out for the first time in two years. he stops at a name with a heart tagged on the end. “rich?” he asks himself. “who the hell is rich?” delete contact. are you sure? yes.or where richie and eddie fall in love again.





	1. chapter one: don't you forget about me

_“rich, i’ll come before you know it. eight months is nothing. we can stay in contact, i’ll be in los angeles soon,” eddie mumbled, near tears at the airport. they were holding hands, the last time for eight months._

_eddie was glad richie was finally going after his dreams and trying to make it big in los angeles, california. he really was. it just hurt that eddie was going to stay studying nursing in new york university to finish his bachelor’s for the next eight months. richie understood, eddie had been accepted into his dream school for his dream job. who was he to take eddie away from that?_

_“yeah, yeah you’re right, eds, it’s gonna take alot to take me away from you,” the taller boy broke into song, and eddie giggled even if his cheeks were stained with tears._

_“are you really singing africa? nevermind, go, leave,” eddie joked, but made no move to let go of richie’s hands. dread ran through his bones as he knew it was going to be the last time in a while he’ll hear richie sing_ their _song._

_“it’s the truth! no one can take me away from you if they tried, babe,” the twenty-two year old needed his aspirator._

_“five years together and you can still make me blush. that’s unfair.” eddie looked at him lovingly, although his voice sounded annoyed._

_“five years. maybe we can get married once you come down to l.a.,” richie murmured, leaving eddie’s cheeks a brighter red._

_“maybe we can, bubs.” eddie reached up and put a hand on richie’s cheek, caressing it softly._

_the two stood there, just looking at each other. soaking the other’s presence in. eddie wanted to memorize richie’s face, he wanted to look at him for as long as he could. he wasn’t going to see him for a long time. he didn’t know it then, but he would soon forget all about his precious rich._

_the intercom interrupted the moment._

_“my… my plane’s boutta leave, eds,” richie whispered. he ran his thumb over eddie’s slimmer digits, and kissed the boy softly. “i’ll see you again. eight months, baby,”_

_“eight months.” quick kiss. richie started walking off, “i love you, rich,_

_the boy eddie loved with wild hair grinned wildly, “i love you too, eds, don’t forget about little old me,” he blew a kiss._ that idiot, _eddie fondly thought. “next time you’ll hear about me,” richie had his radio show host voice on, “i’ll be records tozier! just you wait!” eddie believed it._

_and if eddie couldn’t sleep that night because he wasn’t in richie’s arms, he was okay. eddie woke up the next morning (or 3pm, he didn’t sleep until his body forced him to.) with a heavy heart, growing even heavier as he read a text by none other than the boy in his contacts as rich <3\. _

**_rich <3: _ ** _you’re in new york i’m in la_

**_rich <3:_ ** _i missed you today, so bad that it hurts_

**_eds <3:_ ** _did u just quote blackbear?_

**_eds <3:_ ** _i swear to god, ur such a dork_

**_rich <3: _ ** _i did miss you though, the song is fitting_

**_rich <3:_ ** _i luv u_

_the nurse’s body ached, it’s only been a day. only a day and he’s already falling apart without richie. a day a day a day a-_

a loud shrill woke eddie kaspbrak up for the day. he had a weird dream again, those dreams where he was in a relationship. the dreams seemed so real to him, vivid and emotional. he hadn’t had a relationship since he was in high school. well, he thinks that, he barely remembers his high school years. eddie blames that for his mom, making him black out most of his memories. eddie believed he was quite lonely in high school, since he has no friends now. he vaguely remembers hanging out in the barrens with a handful of kids, but that was it.

the twenty-four year old only had complete recollection of the past year and a half. maybe it was because then he started to slowly go off the abundance of medicine his mother shoved down his throat, or maybe it was because he finally started feeling like he was getting somewhere with his life in the past year and six months.

eddie was graduating next week with a masters in nursing. originally, he’d planned to only get a bachelor’s then run the hell away from university, but like always, he was pressured by his mom to do another two years. he was getting out of new york and into los angeles. los angeles hospitals paid _a ton,_ the salary would be about ninety thousand a year. on average, of course. but he also would love to see the culture over there, no matter how the thought of more polluted city air makes his spine crawl. can’t be worse than new york, can it?

only a few more classes. he had two on thursday, one on friday and monday, and then three others on tuesday. seven more classes. finals in a few, but eddie studied for two hours every night, no matter how late it was. eddie just wanted to go out with good grades.

today was a free day, no work at the old roadhouse down the street or classes that emotionally drain him with information. these days made him wish he had friends besides the girl named beverly marsh in his english class. she was usually busy though, eddie wasn’t on top of her friends list. days like today were for cleaning, and that’s what eddie intended to do. clean.

first, he started with his phone.

the phone was very near and dear to the kaspbrak boy, it was his time killer and reminded him of what he needed to do. he began by clearing emails, deleting unwanted apps, and removing photos. and then, the contacts. the one thing he procrastinates on.

the boy searched through his contact list, cleaning it out for the first time in two years. he stops at a name with a heart tagged on the end. “rich?” he asks himself. “who the hell is rich?” _delete contact. are you sure? yes._

“maybe it was a guy from a club that bev dragged me to?” eddie thought out loud. “or a kid from a study club i had a crush on?” rich. he decided to drop it for now. eddie didn’t notice it was the same contact in the ‘dream’ he had.

_you always clean on your free day, eds, why don’t you just go out with me?_ eddie furrowed his eyebrows. he didn’t know where that thought came from, nor did he ever remember being called eds by anyone. 

“it was probably in one of those dreams,” he mumbled, picking up dirty laundry.

eddie kaspbrak didn’t even notice he deleted richie tozier’s contact, the only person he ever loved.


	2. chapter two: it's friday, i'm in love

sonia kaspbrak was controlling even after death.

after the heart attack last year that left eddie in shambles, her voice still lingered in his head. whenever he did something daring, an _eddie-bear!_ _you’re gonna get hurt again! remember your arm?_ squealed in his mind. whenever the time came for the medicine he used to take, his mind let out an _you got to take your meds, eddie darling, or else you’ll become sick!_

but now, on his flight to los angeles, all he could hear was  _ you’re gonna go back to that boy! the one who gets you in trouble. oh, eddie-bear don’t go, stay here and be with your ma. _ eddie doesn’t quite understand this thought. usually he remembers the exact moment in which his mother nagged him, like with his childhood in adventures or missing medicine time. but a  _ boy _ ? he had no friends in his early ages, his mother sheltered him, eddie never left the house.

as he boarded the plane, the thought grew louder and louder and louder. it ceased when he sat in his seat. the six and a half hour flight was going to be boring, for sure, but at least no one completely aggravating was sitting in the seat next to him.

_ you should’ve brought your inhaler, at least it calms down panic attacks like these _ , eddie thought to himself as his chest began to close up when the plane started ascending. the kid his age sitting next to him saw the panic rising in eddie’s throat, and coughed.

“h-he-hey. f-first time?” the boy smiled, holding out his arm. “i-it’s a b-buh-bit scary, grab o-oh-on to me.” eddie did so gratefully, not minding the stutter the stranger held. eddie thought it gave character.

“uh.. yeah. first plane ride. hopefully my last, but i doubt it,” the kaspbrak wheezed out, trying not to squeeze too hard on the stranger’s arm.  _ breathe in… one, two, three, four. hold… one, two, three, four, five. exhale… one, two, three, four, five, six. _

“w-well, w-we c-cuh-could talk to get your m-mind off of i-ih-it. m-my name is b-buh-buh-b-bill d-denbrough, and i’m g-going to los a-ah-angeles to w-write a best-selling n-nuh-novel someday. you?” eddie appreciated the gesture, examining bill’s face. blue eyes with neatly combed hair. bit of a babyface, but like the stutter, it was character.

“i’m… uh… eddie kaspbrak, and i’m going to l.a. to get a high paying nursing job. not as cool as a writer, i suppose? pays well, especially in los angeles.” the more he talked, the more his chest loosened up.

“th-that’s nice, h-have you b-buh-been here be-be-be-be-be, shit, in t-the past?” bill was visibly exasperated, turning bright red in slight shame.

“don’t worry about it, you’re fine. no, i was planning to a couple years ago for the job, but you know how parents are, wanting you to get the best education and all,” eddie chuckled, relief flowing through his veins as the plane was level for a bit. he watered down what had actually happened, two years ago his mother was screaming at him to be better and get a masters. the last two years for eddie kaspbrak were the last things he’d do because his mother told him so.

bill visibly tensed at the word ‘parents.’ eddie let go of his arm, afraid he disappointed the guy. eddie really hoped he didn’t, since this was closest to a friend he had in awhile. he then thought of beverly marsh, and how she made him promise to text her after eddie got off his plane. the thought automatically made him smile. eddie didn’t think he was so important in the redhead’s life that she was concerned for his safety. bev even promised one day she’ll come down to visit him, maybe move in. 

“y-yeah, th-they’re really something e-else,” bill mumbled out, giving the shorter boy an anxious smile. “w-well, w-wuh-wh-we’re only an hour i-ih-in, we sh-should get to kn-know each other in the five ah-hours we have l-left.” eddie took note that bill’s stutter got better as he got more comfortable in conversation. “wh-what’s your f-fa-favorite b-book?”

\---

**bevvie:** eDWARD KASPBRAK ARE YOU OFF THE PLANEn

**bevvie:** it’s like 3 am here please tell me so i can. sleep. soundly.

**edward:** i just got off, dork

**edward:** go to BED

**bevvie:** i worry okay goodnight loser

eddie had gotten bill’s number after the plane ride. he grinned, for a simple reason. he had two friends, that was two more than he imagined to have at this point in his life. 

his anxiety eased as all of his luggage was still intact. he got the two suitcases and pulled them along with the backpack sitting on his shoulders. eddie was thankful that the cab driver was kind enough to load his bags for him, since eddie had been doubling over, wheezing at the car. he hadn’t done real exercise since high school.

the car ride to his temporary apartment was silent except for the radio. he thought about his new roommate, realizing he needed to introduce himself to  _ another  _ person. stanley uris seemed like a nice guy. he called for a neat, orderly, and clean person, and eddie was  _ definitely _ all three. stan wrote him in for the spot as soon as eddie said he liked to clean every weekend. they got along well via twitter, so eddie was sure he had a shoo in for friend number three. (although, what he didn’t know is that stanley uris already considered eddie a friend.)

eddie listened to the radio.

“hello, and good morning los angeles!” a voice sounded. he wanted to groan, it was six a.m. how could it be a good morning?  _ if the sun is out, eds, it’s gonna be a good morning.  _ a thought sounded in his head. he furrowed his brows, but didn’t think much of it. “it’s records tozier here, with my sidekick harmony hanlon!”

“i’m not your sidekick, richie, after these whole two years of knowing each other, you’d think i’d get respect around here,” another voice joked. eddie guessed it was ‘harmony hanlon.’ “and god, rich, a  _ good _ morning? it’s barely six a.m. and the sun is out, too bright and too early. tired and mildly saddening morning to all of our listeners.” eddie completely agreed.

“oh, mikey,” the voice he presumed was richie sighed, “if the sun is out, it’s gonna be a good morning,” now that made eddie confused. he just thought of an eerily similar sentence like that.  _ maybe you’ve listened to this show before? on your phone? _

“that dumb catchphrase, you say it nearly everyday.”  _ everyday. _

“trash the trashmouth, i get it,” richie screeched in defense.  _ where have i heard that before? _  “well, since hanlon over here is rude and cranky when tired, let’s wake him up with some upbeat music.”

“tozier, the people want slow and lulling-them-to-sleep music,”

“upbeat music! our first song of the show will be friday i’m in love by the cure! a little throwback, i’d say.” 

“god, next is khalid. you and your eighties to nineties selection, records, i’m gonna have a headache.” their voices fade as the beginning of a song eddie  _ actually  _ enjoyed came on, next an artist that he liked.

eddie was glad he found a radio station he liked quick, in new york it took him three months of flipping through the stations to find one. he peered at the little screen in the car, 87.6 FM. he took out a pen and wrote the station down on a notepad.

the cab stopped. “we’re here, kid.”

eddie handed him the fee and thanked the man gently. he got his luggage, the suitcase feeling ten times heavier under the fatigue the small boy was slapped with while listening to the radio.

the kaspbrak boy reluctantly pushed himself up the two flights of stairs in the apartment complex and stopped in front of his new home for the time being. eddie gave himself a mental pep talk to not mess up with or without his drowsiness, and knocked three times on the door. after a handful of seconds, the door swung open, revealing a taller boy with honey-colored curls and a neatly pressed button-down.

“hello,” he smiled, eyes showing no sign of tiredness. eddie had no idea how he managed that. “i’m stanley uris. you must be eddie kaspbrak?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eddie and stan is an ultimate friendship, we been knew, but richie and mike? god tier.
> 
> follow me on twitter! @biIIuris


End file.
